This invention relates generally to devices and methods for dispensing chemical agents into a body of water and, more specifically, to such devices adapted to neutralize a lake or pond.
To maintain a lake or pond as a proper habitat for fish, it is important to maintain the proper pH of the pond. Water quality imbalances, particularly acidity, have their origins between pond soil and water. In particular climates, acidity prevents the best conditions for plant growth, which affects animal life within ponds or lakes. The acidic conditions may be caused in watersheds in which humic and tanic acids are formed as a result of decaying wood. Accordingly, the acidity must be neutralized, or reduced for optimum conditions by adding a neutralizer to the body of water.
The most common method used to disperse neutralizer into a lake or pond is by sowing the neutralizer into the lake or pond by hand. However, this requires a great deal of physical effort and does not properly dispense the neutralizer gradually over time.
Attempts have been made to create floatable neutralizer dispensers, but such prior art efforts have not been particularly successful. Most notably, such prior art efforts have resulted in complex dispensing structures that are expensive to manufacture, transport and use. Also, devices of the prior art are not particularly in successful in evenly dispensing neutralizer in gradual manner over a long period of time, such as over about two to four days.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved pond neutralizing device that avoids the above-mentioned problems in the prior art.
The invention is an apparatus, method and/or combination for dispensing chemical agents, particularly neutralizing agents into a body of water. The apparatus comprises a subcombination that includes a container and chemical agents within the container. The container has a top, a bottom and side walls. The side walls are perforated with a plurality of perforations, each having an open area between about 0.004 square inches and about 0.5 square inches. Wrapped around the outside walls of the container is a removable cover layer disposed over the perforations in the side walls of the container. Such removable cover layer protects chemical agents within the container and prevents the leakage of chemical agents out of the container. When the apparatus is ready for use as a dispenser of the chemical agents into a body of water, the removable cover layer is removed and the container is floated onto the body of water. Over time, water seeps into the container through the perforations, mixes with and dissolves the chemical agents and seeps out again through the perforations into the body of water. By use of the invention, the chemical agents are gradually dispensed into the body of water over a period of about two to about four days, depending upon weather conditions.
The container is typically an inexpensive plastic-walled bucket-like device having a sealed top lid.
In a preferred embodiment, the container contains an upper layer of closed cell foam to give the container additional buoyancy. Also, an anchor is preferably provided to retain the container at a particular location within the lake or pond.